Principal Financial-Remote work

[CYdTracked]

Aren't unproductive folks then fired for not being productive? Shouldn't the numbers show it?

You would think so. I followed one that got fired and they filed a lawsuit when they got denied unemployment benefits and won. I wonder if the manager did a poor job of documenting or the legal department did not present a strong case. Pretty sure I could have presented enough evidence with ease from our IT systems to show this employee lied and manipulated things.

My department has had full time employees laid off only to pay vendors to do some of our work. I would be fired for pulling some of the crap some of these vendors have done and it's taken us a long time to build up a case to finally get some of them relieved from their contract for stuff we would have been fired for long before that. The Corporate world is messed up. You have millionaires trying to pad their net worth at the expense of making the people they rely on to keep the business profitable lives miserable.

 

[Cyched]

 

[CYdTracked]

Sounds like you're describing having a job.

Yes, I'm at a point in my career where I'm at peace if I were to get laid off because they'd have to pay me a nice severance package and I have enough expirience and skills to land another job quickly. My happiness at work is a roller coaster based on what is going on but I no longer fear a layoff. They'd lose a ton of productivity and expirience if they let me but on the other hand if it were not for the severance I'd lose by staying around is the only reason I have not actively looked for a new job right now.

 

[CyCoug]

You're right, all those restrictions were dumb and ineffective.

What was dumb was making office workers go in person to sit at their desks to join remote meetings with other office workers all sitting at their desks on remote meetings.

 

[tman24]

What was dumb was making office workers go in person to sit at their desks to join remote meetings with other office workers all sitting at their desks on remote meetings.

That was my point when my boss asked about coming back in. It has to be everyone or why bother. Why come in the office just to sit on video meetings with half the team.

 

[CyCoug]

That was my point when my boss asked about coming back in. It has to be everyone or why bother. Why come in the office just to sit on video meetings with half the team.

What was exceptionally dumb during COVID was going into the office and having Teams meetings with people in the same building.

We absolutely should have socially distanced. But making people come into an office to then try to socially distance, yet still risk interactions in the halls and restrooms was next-level asinine.

 

[ClonerJams]

I dont work for Principal but I do workmfor a large company. During COVID I came across several people I was certain were manipulating their WFH situation and finding ways to have "IT issues" as a reason to not work. Those who were motivated to work usually answered their phone right away and were willing to do anything to get working again while others would not return phone calls and fight me every way they could when I provided options to fix their issues the fastest way and insist on options that would keep them not working for multiple days while still getting paid. Some of them would conveniently not be at home or answer the door when their new device arrived that required a signature to accept so I would start forwarding the tracking on the shipment to their manager and tell them they were not home to sign for the delivery to show we were trying to get their employee back online ASAP.

I still run into this some now with most people working some kind of hybrid "it's not my day/week to be in office" is a common excuse. Well if you come in 50% of the time making a trip in to fix your issues should not be hard to do. Had someone this past month that lived 2 miles from the office refuse to come in to fix something that would get them working in the same day instead of waiting 2-3 days for a new laptop to ship because "I work 100% remote." These are the type of employees that ruin it for those who are capable of being productive at home.

I have no issues with people that want to work from home that are productive doing it. My issue is in the line of work I do I have seen way too many people that have manipulated that privilege and still get paid to not be productive. Funny thing is whenever you call in IT issues it creates a call and ticket history so it's not like you can use the same story multiple times. I always look up history before I call someone and if I see you have a pattern of calls I'm going to be pointed with my questions and a bit skeptical where if someone has little to no history then they probably aren't someone trying to manipulate the system.

I can't do that because emails would just pile up and create more work for me if I tried pulling something like that. Sounds no bueno

 

[NWICY]

I have a theory that 80% of people working are not in their ideal job. Maybe it's OK, maybe they are even good at it, but it isn't anything they really love to do. If only we could figure that out better, people would be a lot happier and society would be a lot better off.

And yes, some companies really really suck. Most from incompetence, some from malice.

Good point but how many people swapped jobs from what they really liked for the bigger paycheck? Sometimes it is self inflicted. No idea what that number may be.

 

[throwittoblythe]

Those TikTokkers may be telling an open secret of office work culture. No one, whether they are in the office or works remotely, ever puts in 100% effort, 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. Those that do, or are forced to, quickly burn out and seek other opportunities. Or in other cases (poor job market, company loyalty, etc), they suffer through their jobs and suddenly we have a global mental health crisis on our hands.

I think there is absolutely something to be said about the status of commercial real estate. The actual proponents of “return to work” are the city leaders themselves who are staring down the barrel of economic catastrophe within their own city centers. I’m not surprised Principal is pushing for this, given their massive presence downtown.

This is an important distinction. Doing 40 (or more hours) of actual, productive work each week is extremely draining, especially if it’s all from behind a computer. We know humans need breaks from focused work. So, if you’re going to do 40 hours of productive work, that means you’re putting in 50+ hours of “time at work.”

I realized this when I changed jobs recently. My last job was 100% remote, no PTO, and no timesheets. It truly was about getting your work done regardless of the hours needed (good or bad).

My current job is still remote, but has timesheets and a vacation bank that is accrued. After my first two weeks in the new job, I was feeling completely fried. I realized it was because I was putting in 40-45 hours/week of actual, productive work. I was not getting many breaks at all and grinding through very brain-heavy work all day.

I also realized I was probably only doing 30-ish hours of actual work each week in my previous job.

 

[madguy30]

This is an important distinction. Doing 40 (or more hours) of actual, productive work each week is extremely draining, especially if it’s all from behind a computer. We know humans need breaks from focused work. So, if you’re going to do 40 hours of productive work, that means you’re putting in 50+ hours of “time at work.”

I realized this when I changed jobs recently. My last job was 100% remote, no PTO, and no timesheets. It truly was about getting your work done regardless of the hours needed (good or bad).

My current job is still remote, but has timesheets and a vacation bank that is accrued. After my first two weeks in the new job, I was feeling completely fried. I realized it was because I was putting in 40-45 hours/week of actual, productive work. I was not getting many breaks at all and grinding through very brain-heavy work all day.

I also realized I was probably only doing 30-ish hours of actual work each week in my previous job.

And I'd guess 30 hours is a high number for the typical 9-5 office job of actual work.

 

[throwittoblythe]

I have a theory that 80% of people working are not in their ideal job. Maybe it's OK, maybe they are even good at it, but it isn't anything they really love to do. If only we could figure that out better, people would be a lot happier and society would be a lot better off.

And yes, some companies really really suck. Most from incompetence, some from malice.

I’m a good example of this on both sides of the equation.

I’m 15 years out of school. I’m on company #6. Some certainly look at my resume and see job hopping, some see personal and professional reasons to jump. The truth is in the middle.

Job 1: 7 years, left because they wanted us to move out west and we wanted to stay.

Job 2: 1 year, terrible fit and poor decision by me to take the job. Left because I got recruited away with a better offer by another firm.

Job 3: 1 year, great company but the job was insanely boring with no professional growth happening. Left to take a role where I would grow more professionally.

Job 4: 3 years, left to move back to Iowa.

Job 5: 2 years, left because the firm was bought by private equity and they killed the culture.

I’d admit I’ve made some strategic errors along the way and should have stuck it out at job 1 or 3. The others I have no doubt I made the right call.

All that being said, changing jobs has offered me windows into how many companies function and I’d gather my salary has stayed on the upper end of my industry for my experience level.

However, my industry does value stability so I intend to settle down and stay for the long haul unless a serious reason comes up that pushes me otherwise. I’m not in love with my current job. But I’m paid well enough that I’m willing to stick it out for a while longer.

 

[BryceC]

you might deal with a lot of Alphas, but learning to de

It was a joke. You learn how to deal with all kinds of people coaching rec level sports trust me.

My point is simply that work is an extremely poor place to “give back to your community” and IMO its way outside the scope of an office job.

Maybe I’m missing out not being in the office. But I worked in them for 15 years and I’m much happier now that I’m in rarely if at all.

 

[KnappShack]

It was a joke. You learn how to deal with all kinds of people coaching rec level sports trust me.

My point is simply that work is an extremely poor place to “give back to your community” and IMO its way outside the scope of an office job.

Maybe I’m missing out not being in the office. But I worked in them for 15 years and I’m much happier now that I’m in rarely if at all.

Remember when I worked for a company in downtown DSM where I was told to donate to the charity the company pushed or I wouldn't be considered for promotion.

Was also told that using all of my vacation days would make me a poor candidate for advancement too.

Ahhh....the good ol' days

 

[AirWalke]

My current job is still remote, but has timesheets and a vacation bank that is accrued. After my first two weeks in the new job, I was feeling completely fried. I realized it was because I was putting in 40-45 hours/week of actual, productive work. I was not getting many breaks at all and grinding through very brain-heavy work all day.

Ugh, I wouldn’t last long at an employer that requires you to clock in remotely. Especially if it’s salaried. I’ve been an hourly employee for the majority of my career, only just recently found a new job and employer that pays me a salary. It’s been entirely refreshing working for an employer that trusts their employees to get the work done regardless of time worked.

 

[throwittoblythe]

Ugh, I wouldn’t last long at an employer that requires you to clock in remotely. Especially if it’s salaried. I’ve been an hourly employee for the majority of my career, only just recently found a new job and employer that pays me a salary. It’s been entirely refreshing working for an employer that trusts their employees to get the work done regardless of time worked.

We are an engineering consultant, so we charge clients by the hour and time sheets are a necessary evil. What I don’t like is that we have like zero clarity on the number of hours expected. I always get my 40 but have other weeks that are 60+. It’s really lacking the flexibility that most small companies are supposed to offer.

 

[Rogue52]

If your company recently re-negged on some form of remote work, it is designed to get you to quit and hit attrition levels without laying you off. I’m sure it is being sold as a “cost saving measure”. It’s a cost saving measure but not for the reason they claim.

 

[isufbcurt]

Ugh, I wouldn’t last long at an employer that requires you to clock in remotely. Especially if it’s salaried. I’ve been an hourly employee for the majority of my career, only just recently found a new job and employer that pays me a salary. It’s been entirely refreshing working for an employer that trusts their employees to get the work done regardless of time worked.

Clock in, go to youtube and play music videos. Your computer will stay awake and people will think you are online

 

[Cyched]

Clock in, go to youtube and play music videos. Your computer will stay awake and people will think you are online

 

[Rabbuk]

Clock in, go to youtube and play music videos. Your computer will stay awake and people will think you are online

This is my Monday morning routine

 

[AirWalke]

If your company recently re-negged on some form of remote work, it is designed to get you to quit and hit attrition levels without laying you off. I’m sure it is being sold as a “cost saving measure”. It’s a cost saving measure but not for the reason they claim.

Ask Hy-Vee how that went.